We have a busy month planned so I thought I would share the long list of conferences going on this winter in my area. I’m not sure how many Michigan readers I have but in any case maybe this will motivate others to look for educational opportunities in their area. I’ve included links when I have them and a little more about why each applies to our operation for those interested. Jan. 3,4: MSBA (MI Sheep Breeders Asso.) Michigan Shepherd’s WeekendWhere: Sheraton Lansing Hotel; Lansing, MICost: $30/person or $40/family + $20 to join if you’re not a member, assuming you didn’t register before Dec. 26th.Highlights: What is the optimum size for YOUR flock?, Recycling nutrients from manure (hoping we can apply what we learn to all our animals), Getting Lambs to Market on Grass.Why it applies: We have 4 Suffolk ewes and expect our very first lambs in late winter/early spring. We’d like to learn a much as possible to help us produce high quality lambs whether they go to 4H kids for show or directly to buyers as meat.More Info: www.misheep.org Jan. 17th: Michigan Family Farms ConferenceWhere: Lakeview High School; Battle Creek, MICost: $35/adult $25/children $30/MIFFS memberHighlights: How to
Continue readingMonth: December 2008
How Do You Start Your Seedlings?
I am happy to be back to blogging after the holiday. I meant to leave a more upbeat post up over Christmas but have been having a lot of trouble with my internet connection and therefore gave up. I have some nice Christmas pics to post and I’d like to share what gifts we gave this year, as well as some nice things we received. Today, though, I would like to discuss something that has been on my mind a lot, and apparently on others too. Let’s talk about garden plans! The latest edition of Hobby Farms is full of tips and tricks for garden planning. Sharon Astyk posted awhile back about signs of a possible seed shortage so I sorted through what was left of last year’s seeds and made my list for this year. I order my seeds almost exclusively through Baker Creek Seed Co. at rareseeds.com. They are a great company to deal with and produce a wonderful catalog chuck full of good information. The real reason I prefer them is because they care so much about seed integrity and I trust them. Frankly, I don’t have to time or the knowledge to sort through other catalogs
Continue readingRespect on the Road
It sure is time to cuddle up and settle in around here. We’ve had one blizzard after another and it is still snowing. Friday was so bad that a lot of businesses in town closed. The other girls at work left early and so did I. Blizzards like this affect our household a lot because Brian works for the road commission. That means that he came home at 10 PM on Friday, worked 7 AM – 3 PM on Saturday, and then 14 hours yesterday. Since he gets a lot of crap from people who think his job is so great, we’re quick to point out the downsides! When the phone rings he has to go, regardless of what he’s doing. He is allowed to decline, especially if he’s had a beer or is out of town, but he rarely ever does. I am hoping now that he worked all weekend that maybe he won’t get called on Christmas Eve. That is when my family’s big Christmas is and it would be a real bummer if he couldn’t go. The picture up above is Brian’s road grader. That is what he drives most of the time, pushing back snow from
Continue readingIf The Economy Is So Bad….?
If the economy is so bad, why is it so incredibly hard to find good service? My husband and I continue to be amazed at the crappy service we receive from businesses. I guess since things are “so bad” I would expect businesses to step it up a notch and do everything they can to keep their customers. Here are three examples of disappointing experiences we’ve had lately. The first one is rather long but the other two are quick:-We received some cash towards new appliances for a wedding gift. After watching sales for awhile I called the Lowe’s about a half hour from here. I asked if they had any black or stainless steel gas stoves in stock with a storage drawer at the bottom. The woman assured me they had two in stock. After driving all the way there we were pointed to only one stove that fit our description and told that the floor model was the only one they had left and we could have it at 10% off if we liked. Of course it was dented and scratched!! When I mentioned my phone call ahead I was told that the girl who answered my call
Continue readingOh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree…
Not much time this morning but I thought I’d post a few pics of our visit to the local Christmas tree farm on Sunday. We had fun posing and got some cute pics of our friend’s mules. This will probably be our last Blue Spruce. At half the price, the Scotch Pine is sounding better and better all the time. We paid $41 for our tree this year, partially because they only allow you to cut trees that are 6′ tall and we only wanted a little one. I would be interested to hear what the rest of you are paying in other parts of the country. Maybe I’m crazy but I think the price is getting a little high. Oh well, we had fun anyway! Here you go:
Continue readingA Twinge of Self-Sufficiency
I like to play this game where I try to stock up enough food and staples that I don’t have to go grocery shopping for a long time. After a lot of practice I finally got to where the only things on the list were dairy products such as milk, cheese slices, cheese sticks, and butter. Apple juice also had a permanent spot on the list. After a few good sales we now have lots of cheese and butter in the freezer and many, many gallons of juice in the pantry. We’re down to picking up a gallon of milk here and there when we stop at the local meat market for lunch meat. Today when I came home from work I walked in to the kitchen and sat my tin I Love Lucy lunch box on the counter as usual. From there I looked over towards the fridge and could see that two lines at the top of the grocery list had writing on them. Darn! I thought, what could we possibly be out of!?! bagelscream cheese Bagels – hmmph! The last package almost got moldy before I pointed that out and my hubby quickly scarfed them down as
Continue readingPumpkin Pie Squares
Abbie over at Farmer’s Daughter is hosting a Christmas Cookie Recipe Swap! I’m excited to check out everyone recipes. Here’s my first contribution. Pumpkin Pie SquaresRecipe taken from Farm Journal’s Best-Ever Cookies by Patricia A. Ward. 1 c. sifted flour1/2 c. quick-cooking oats1/2 c brown sugar, packed1/2 c. butter1 (16-oz.) can mashed pumpkin (2 c.) <—-2 c. was most of a bigger can for me, not sure about that1 (13.5-oz.) can evaporated milk2 eggs3/4 c. sugar1 tsp. ground cinnamon1/2 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. ground ginger1/2 tsp. ground cloves1/2 c. chopped pecans1/2 c. brown sugar, packed2 Tbs. butter Combine flour, oats, 1/2 c. brown sugar and 1/2 c. butter in bowl. Mix until crumbly, using electric mixer at low speed. Press dough into bottom and 1/2″ up sides of ungreased 13x9x2″ baking pan. Bake in 350 degree (F) over 16 minutes.Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and cloves in bowl. Beat well, using rotary beater. Pour into baked crust.Bake in 350 degree (F) oven 20 minutes.Combine pecans, 1/2 c. brown sugar and 2 Tbs. butter; sprinkle over pumpkin filling. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into 2
Continue readingHomemade, Last Minute, Cute, Kinda Green Christmas Cards!
Okay so this morning I started shopping around for Christmas cards online. I’ve done this many times in the past few months and always got discouraged because the recycled cards are sooo expensive. I was going to give up on that idea and instead created a cute card with some caricatures of my family on the front. I was almost at the point of entering my credit card number to the tune of $50 for 50 cards. That was $30 for the cards, $4 for some matching gift tags I’d fallen for, and the rest was all shipping and handling (just to get them here in 7-10 days – kinda close!). Anyway, one of the last options before checking out was to download the caricatures for unlimited use on your computer. The cost was $1.99 per caricature or $6.99 for the whole group of six. I was a little concerned that the company wouldn’t allow you to purchase just the images without an additional order but after deleting the printed cards and gift tags, only the download charge remained!! No tax and no shipping, just $6.99 total billed to my card. When I got home tonight I used MS Works
Continue readingSunday Stroll
It feels good to be out strolling again today. It was still very cold as we’ve been getting storms all week but at least the winds died down and the sun came out. I couldn’t resist getting some more pictures of the horses while I was breaking their ice. The rest are mostly views from our front porch before the wind stopped. Check out who else is strolling today over at Quiet Country House.
Continue readingLemons
Wow – what a great blogging community this is! I can’t express how wonderful everyone has been by leaving wonderful comments here. So, you can imagine how touched I was to receive The Lemonade Award – twice! From my understanding, this award is meant for people who are positive, show gratitude, and of course: make lemons out of lemonade! The rules for this award are that you post the graphic for it, write a post that links back to the giver, and then pass it on to up to ten others. Leave a comment on the blogs that get the award, so they know what’s happened. First, I would like to thank Joyce at tallgrassworship (haha does this sound like a Grammy speech?) for passing along the award and for spreading the word about the fire with the other APLS. Thanks to Ruth at Everydaywoman as well for also passing this award my way. I don’t think I ever commented back to you but you should know (& Abbie too!) that by sharing the story of your family’s barn burning you really helped me to see past this. We are so lucky that our animals are okay – I’m sure
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